The better part of a year and half ago, I wrote a wee blog about how popular sci-fi and fantasy handle feminism. If you've not read it, you can find it here, but my woeful conclusion was 'not very well at all.' Well, eighteen months on, things are better, right?
I'll have to go with a solid 'sort of', on that.
See? There are lots of superheroines in the Marvel universe. Mind you, when Dazzler’s one of your leading punches…
Superficially, things seem much improved. Since my original piece, w...

As some of you have probably realised, BBC reform is on the breeze again. The telltale signs are all there. The main ones, of course, are that it's a day of the week, and water is wet. Government poking at the BBC – or threatening to poke at the BBC – is hardly even a news story any more. The question comes again and again: Why Do We Need the BBC? It's just something that happens, like the sun rising in the morning. The other indicator is a steady stream of TV personalities proclaiming far and w...

Batman v. Superman. It's not a great title, is it? In fact, it doesn't get a hell of a lot better when you add the subtitle Dawn of Justice. Nevertheless, I find the idea of Bats versus Supes interesting. Oh, not in how it plays out on the big screen. Every crossover comic ever has a scene where the two main characters duke it out for a bit, and then realise that they're really on the same side. Daredevil/Batman? Check. Punisher/Batman? Check. JLA/Avengers? Yarp. If there's a winner, it's normal...

Last week, I posted on Facebook about the release of Frostgrave: Tales from the Frozen City – a short story anthology to which I contributed. I also mentioned that it contained a story by a writing hero of mine, David A. McIntee. He's a writer who's turned his hand to plenty of different works over the years, but I know him through his entries in the Missing Adventures and New Adventures lines of Doctor Who novels. 'Writing hero' isn't an accolade I wave around much. As I'm sure I've mentioned b...

I didn't read many superhero comics as a kid – you just couldn't get hold of them where I lived. My comics were the Beano, the Dandy, and the occasional Whizzer & Chips. My only written brush with Up, Up and Away came from the weekly adventures of Bananaman, who was, so far as I can tell, never a member of the Justice League or the Avengers (although, that's something I could see Grant Morrison changing, if ever he has the chance). Like most folk my age, my superheroes were on TV. Cartoons l...

Those of you who follow me on Facebook (so, three out of the four people reading this blog) will know that I was lucky enough to have a peek around some of the disused and backstairs areas of Charing Cross station this weekend just gone. I can’t claim special privilege. All told, upwards of a thousand people will have seen what I saw. Every so often, the London Transport Museum (well worth a visit in its own right) organises guided tours around abandoned/curious bits of the Underground. This tim...